iv Huttoris "Theory of the Earth" 163 



enthusiasm and vivacity. In a company he was always 

 one of the most animated speakers, his conversation full of 

 ingenious and original observation, showing wide infor- 

 mation, from which an excellent memory enabled him to 

 draw endless illustrations of any subject that might be 

 discussed, where, " when the subject admitted of it, the 

 witty and the ludicrous never failed to occupy a consider- 

 able place." 



Though his partnership in the chemical work brought 

 him considerable wealth, it made no difference in the quiet 

 unostentatious life of a philosopher, which he had led 

 ever since he settled in Edinburgh. A severe attack of 

 illness in the summer of 1793 greatly reduced his strength, 

 and though he recovered from it and was able to resume 

 his life of activity, a second attack of the same ailment 

 in the winter of 1796 terminated at last fatally on the 

 26th March 1797, when he was in his seventy-first year. 



Button's claim to rank high among the founders of 

 geology rests on no wide series of writings, like those which 

 Von Buch poured forth so copiously for more than two 

 generations. Nor was it proclaimed by a host of devoted 

 pupils, like those who spread abroad the fame of Werner. 

 It is based on one single work, 1 and on the elucidations of 

 two friends and disciples. 



On the 7th of March and 4th of April 1785 there was 

 read to the Koyal Society of Edinburgh a memoir on a 

 " Theory of the Earth ; or an Investigation of the Laws 

 observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Eestoration 

 of Land upon the Globe." Extending to no more than 96 



1 The first sketch and the expansion of it into two volumes may be practi- 

 cally regarded as one work so far as the originality of conception is concerned. 



